A former Los Angeles garbage collector, convicted in the so-called Grim Sleeper slayings that spanned more than two decades, was sentenced to death on Wednesday, ending a lengthy case centering on the gruesome deaths of more than a dozen women in South L.A. Franklin, 63, was convicted earlier this year of killing nine women and a teenage girl from 1985 to 2007.<br />During the penalty phase of his trial, prosecutors connected him to five additional slayings.<br />But detectives believe he may have killed at least 25 women.<br />Police kept the slayings quiet despite suspicions that a serial killer was stalking black women — a decision that led to outrage and condemnation from many who attribute Franklin's longevity as a killer to police indifference.<br />Franklin earned the “Grim Sleeper” nickname because a gap in the killings between 1988 and 2002 suggested he had gone dormant.<br />But detectives believe Franklin never really slept.
